Finance Committee Gets Briefing on Library Project Finances: Big Questions Remain
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Report on the Meeting of the Amherst Finance Committee, March 3, 2026
This meeting was held over Zoom and was recorded.
Present
Cathy Schoen (Chair, District 1), Lynn Griesemer (District 2), Ana Devlin Gauthier and Sam MacLeod (District 5). Tom Porter (nonvoting member). Absent: Jill Brevik (District 1) and Joseph Jayne (nonvoting member)
Staff: Sean Mangano (Finance Director), Paul Bockelman (Town Manager), and Athena O’Keeffe (Council Clerk)
An update on the financial aspects of the Jones Library building project was on the agenda for the Finance Committee on March 3, 2026. There have been many requests for many months to get details on how the bills are being paid, what kind of borrowing has occurred, how far behind the Library Trustees are in payments to the town, what are the plans to deal with what appears to be a large, looming fundraising shortfall, etc. Some information was shared, but more questions remain unanswered.
Finance Committee Chair Cathy Schoen opened the topic by saying that the agenda item was meant to indicate that the issue of the project financing was planned for the committee’s next meeting on March 17. Town Finance Director Sean Mangano, however, had interpreted the agenda item as a request for him to provide information. There was no written document sent to the committee, but Mangano gave the following information in a verbal report (Managano also provided some additional clarifications after the meeting):
Town Borrowings
The town recently took out a long-term loan of $15,751,810 at 3.85% interest for a 30-year term. The annual debt service on this will be ~$900,000.
The town also recently took out a short-term loan for ~$13.8 million at 2.25% interest with a 1-year term. The interest on this will total ~$286,000. Whatever part of this $13.8 million that is not reimbursed by the Library Trustees will have to be rolled over into long-term borrowing. An additional short-term loan may also be required, depending on when and how much the library pays the town. The town had already taken out a short-term loan for $2.8M last March, which was rolled into this new borrowing. Interest already paid on that was $110,960.
All interest on these loans will be paid by the town. The interest earned on Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC) grant payments received before being spent is kept by the town
MBLC payments
So far, the town has received $8.3 million in payments from the MBLC. Mangano did not know when the next three installments would be received for a grand total of $15.6M.
Library Reimbursement
The Library is obligated to pay the town a total of ~$13.8 million, of which Mangano reported $4.9 million has been received. This does not include the $1 million in Amherst CPA funds for Special Collections that was authorized a few years ago. That leaves $8.9 million for the Jones Capital Campaign to raise and deliver to the town, plus another $1 million it needs to raise to cover its fundraising expenses. This total exceeds the current value of the Jones endowment, which has been identified as the guarantee of repayment to the town but which is also the source of a portion of the library’s annual operating costs.
Still No Updated Cash Flow Analysis
The last cash flow analysis for the project was provided in November 2023, when the Library approached the Town Council seeking an additional ~$10 million. The Town Manager promised the Town Council an updated analysis a year ago, when the Town Council reconsidered whether the project should move forward. The following table summarizes the promises made by the library in the original cash flow that was incorporated into the MOU. Also provided are the actual payments made to the town. Not shown is a recent payment of ~$1 million, which brings the total amount that the library is arrears to over $6 million.
| Date Due | Amount Due | Amount Paid | Cumulative Due | Cumulative Received | Total Amount Overdue |
| 6/30/22 | $500,000 | $500,000.00 | $500,000 | $500,000.00 | $0 |
| 1/31/24 | $2,000,000 | $248,968.37 | $2,500,000 | $748,968.37 | $1,751,032 |
| 1/31/25 | $4,000,000 | $1,359,826.59 | $6,500,000 | $2,108,794.96 | $4,391,205 |
| 1/31/26 | $5,000,000 | $2,100,406.60 | $11,500,000 | $4,209,201.56 | $7,290,798 |
| 7/31/26 | $2,322,518 | $13,822,518 |
Drawdowns on Project Contingency To Be Presented at JLBC on March 9
Mangano said that he would be presenting a financial update on the costs of the project at the next Jones Library Building Committee meeting on Monday, March 9. Contingency funds, which started at $3.6 million, decreased even before construction began, and updates of the amounts spent and still available have not been provided up until now. Contingency dollars will cover the more than $700,000 in change orders to date as well as any increases in soft costs like moving expenses, temporary space costs, furnishings, and OPM, Designer, and other fees.
Further Discussion at Next Finance Committee Meeting
Schoen indicated that this item will remain on the agenda for the March 17, 2026 meeting of the Finance Committee to answer any follow-up questions. She also noted that the Finance Committee has still not received a report from the Community Preservation Act Committee, so it cannot take up their recommendations yet.
The Finance Committee began compiling a list of questions to ask the regional schools, the elementary schools, the town departments, and the library about their operating costs for the upcoming year. These will be discussed at subsequent meetings.
A bank would never lend a large sum of money without knowing the debt to the penny, and without secure knowledge of when and how it will be repaid.
With so many operating and capital budget needs hanging in the balance, I don’t understand why the Town seems in little hurry to understand how (or if) the library trustees will come up with their obligation, and when we can expect it. Taxpayers and residents who rely on town services deserve better than the equivalent of “I will gladly pay you Tuesday.”